TuesdayMarch 20,2018

A large quantity of ordnance found in Itoman

On February 21, a large amount of ammunition such as bullets and grenades that had been stored during the Battle of Okinawa was found in a shelter in Ozato, Itoman.

February 25, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

On February 24, a volunteer group found a large quantity of ordnance in a shelter in Itoman. There were 861 bullets, five hand-grenades and one artillery round that had been stored there during the Battle of Okinawa.

Seventy four year-old Naha resident Isamu Kuniyoshi belongs to a group that has continued to collect the remains of those killed during the battle, and on this occasion they unearthed ammunition in shelters in Maezato and Ozato in Itoman. The shelter in Maezato was used by the Imperial Japanese Army as a field hospital during the Battle of Okinawa.

Kuniyoshi said, “It is unusual to find so many bullets in the same shelter.”
The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force bomb-disposal squad came to retrieve the ordnance on February 23. When the Ministry of Health and Welfare surveyed the shelter in 1994 they found human remains and personal effects. Kuniyoshi said that this shelter is about 350 meters long, and that it is possible that they will discover more remains and personal effects in future.

The information center at Mabuni that coordinates the collection of remains provided this information to the Okinawa Prefectural Government.